Fully designable vehicle information panel interface

ABSTRACT

Provided are systems and methods for facilitating a user to configure and retrieve personalized settings for a fully designable information panel in a driving apparatus. The information panel system may be configured to store a plurality information panel configurations. Different information panel configurations may correspond to different users of the driving apparatus. Users may be identified when inside the driving apparatus by capturing their biometric information. Following identification, an information panel configuration corresponding to the identified user may be retrieved and configured on a display device. The displayed information panel configuration may include a user customized graphic. The user customized graphic may be modified by the identified user with a color, shape, or text modification. The modification may be dependent on different metrics regarding vehicle operation or performance.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure generally relates to configuring display devicesin vehicles, and more specifically to personalized configuration ofdisplay devices in vehicles using user biometric information.

Vehicles, such as automobiles, have a wide range of controllers andgauges that may be visualized and adjusted inside a vehicle cabin.Vehicle controllers give the vehicle driver and/or passenger the abilityto adjust one of several adjustable components. Examples of suchadjustable components include mirrors (side and rear), seats, steeringwheels, air temperature, air magnitude, radio, headlights, brakes,engine (e.g., economy or sports mode), among others. An automobile withadjustable components can typically facilitate a person entering theautomobile (e.g., a driver) to manually select and set his/her preferredsettings for the adjustable components. For example, a female driverentering the automobile can be facilitated to adjust various levers toposition the seat properly for her body type. She can also befacilitated to set the steering wheel to an angle for ease of use,adjust the rear and side-view mirrors for her height, select a favoritestation on the radio, and/or select any of the additional personalsettings.

Vehicle gauges, on the other hand, give the vehicle driver and/orpassenger the ability to examine certain metrics regarding vehicleoperation or performance. Examples of such gauges include speedometers,tachometers, oil pressure gauges, temperature gauges, voltmeters,odometers, ammeters, fuel pressure gauges, brake pressure gauges, checkengine indicators, among others. Vehicle gauges may be displayed eitherusing an analog or electronic display. Types of electronic displaysinclude CRT, LED, OLED, LCD, and plasma technologies, among others.Electronic displays in vehicles can display still images or video.

SUMMARY

Provided are systems and methods for facilitating a user to configureand retrieve personalized settings for a fully designable informationpanel in a driving apparatus. Some embodiments of the present disclosureinclude a system which includes a processor that is configured to storea plurality of information panel configurations for users of the drivingapparatus. The plurality of information panel configurations may includea first information panel configuration for a first user of the drivingapparatus and a second information panel configuration for a second userof the driving apparatus.

In some embodiments, the first information panel configuration includesa first user customized graphic, and the second information panelconfiguration includes a second user customized graphic. The first andsecond user customized graphics may be previously modified by the firstand second users on a computing device. In addition, the first andsecond user customized graphics may be previously modified with aplurality of color, shape, or text modifications. In some embodiments,at least one of the plurality of color, shape, or text modifications isvisually dependent on a metric regarding vehicle operation orperformance. The processor may be further configured to effectuateconfiguring the first information panel configuration on a displaydevice, and to effectuate configuring the second information panelconfiguration on the display device.

In some embodiments, the plurality of color, shape, or textmodifications include a modification of either a vehicle gauge orcontroller. The first and second users may modify existing first andsecond user customized graphics. The existing first and second usercustomized graphics may not be originally created by the first andsecond users. In some embodiments, the first and second user customizedgraphics may be previously modified using a pixel-based editingapproach. In some embodiments, the first and second user customizedgraphics may be previously modified using a vector-based editingapproach.

In some embodiments, the processor may be further configured to identifythe first user when the first user is inside the driving apparatus.Following identification of the first user, the first information panelconfiguration may be retrieved. The processor may be further configuredto identify the second user when the second user is inside the drivingapparatus. Following identification of the second user, the secondinformation panel configuration may be retrieved.

In some embodiments, the first and second users are identified byreceiving biometric information regarding the first and second users.The biometric information that is received may be captured by afingerprint scanner or a camera. In some embodiments, the first andsecond users are identified by receiving information from an inputdevice that is configured to allow the first and second users toidentify themselves. In some embodiments, the input device is a touchscreen that is incorporated into the display device. In someembodiments, the plurality of information panel configurations arestored in a remote storage over a network.

Systems and methods of the present disclosure may also include acomputer-method for configuring a driving apparatus, and anon-transitory processor-readable medium comprising instructions that,when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or moreprocessors to perform several operations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention, are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention andtogether with the detailed description serve to explain the principlesof the invention. No attempt is made to show structural details of theinvention in more detail than may be necessary for a fundamentalunderstanding of the invention and various ways in which it may bepracticed.

FIG. 1 illustrates a transportation apparatus, according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates a vehicle information panel, according to anexemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates a computing interface, according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates a computing interface, according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates a computing interface, according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates a vehicle information panel with partitioning betweenthe driver side and the passenger side, according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of a method for facilitating a userto configure an information panel in a driving apparatus, according toan exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates a simplified computer system, according to anexemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

In the appended figures, similar components and/or features may have thesame numerical reference label. Further, various components of the sametype may be distinguished by following the reference label by a letterthat distinguishes among the similar components and/or features. If onlythe first numerical reference label is used in the specification, thedescription is applicable to any one of the similar components and/orfeatures having the same first numerical reference label irrespective ofthe letter suffix.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Various example embodiments of the present disclosure will be describedbelow with reference to the drawings constituting a part of thedescription. It should be understood that, although terms representingdirections are used in the present disclosure, such as “front”, “rear”,“upper”, “lower”, “left”, “right”, and the like, for describing variousexemplary structural parts and elements of the present disclosure, theseterms are used herein only for the purpose of convenience of explanationand are determined based on the exemplary orientations shown in thedrawings. Since the embodiments disclosed by the present disclosure canbe arranged according to different directions, these terms representingdirections are merely used for illustration and should not be regardedas limiting. Wherever possible, the same or similar reference marks usedin the present disclosure refer to the same components.

Traditional vehicle electronic displays, often referred to as digitalinstrument panels or electronic instrument clusters, typically have abuilt-in layout that is configured by the manufacturer. Anycustomizations permitted by these electronic displays are minimal, andgenerally apply to all users of the vehicle without the ability to storeand later retrieve through a user profile. Therefore, it is desirable toprovide new systems and methods for configuring display devices invehicles.

In accordance with the disclosure, a fully designable information panelin a driving apparatus may be facilitated. Biometrics, such as afingerprint, retina pattern, voice pattern and/or any other biometricinformation of a certain user of the driving apparatus may be capturedto identify the user. The user may be associated with severalinformation panel configurations such that the user may configure andstore an information panel configuration, and then later retrieve orupdate the same information panel configuration. FIG. 1 illustrates oneexample of a driving apparatus 100 that allows a user to provide his/herbiometric information to store, retrieve, and/or update theirpersonalized settings for an information panel.

As shown, driving apparatus 100 in accordance with the disclosure mayinclude a processor 103 configured to execute machine-readableinstructions. The machine-readable instructions, when executed, cancause processor 103 to perform one or more operations to implementstoring, recalling and/or updating the personalized settings of aninformation panel in the driving apparatus 100. As shown, processor 103may be operatively connected to one or more user identifying devices104, such as a biometric information capturing device 105 which is shownin FIG. 1 as a camera. The biometric information capturing device 105can be configured to acquire biometric information from a user of thedriving apparatus 100. In some embodiments, the biometric informationcapturing device 105 may be configured to identify the user based on thebiometric information provided by the user. However, this is notnecessarily the only case. In some embodiments, the biometricinformation capturing device 105 may not identify the user. In thoseembodiments, the biometric information capturing device 105 may beconfigured to simply transmit the captured user biometric information toprocessor 103 for further processing.

In some embodiments, the user identifying device 104 need not include abiometric information capturing device. Users may identify themselves byentering information into the information panel or some other inputdevice. For example, users may identify themselves using a keypadlocated on the inside of the vehicle. In some embodiments, a keypadlocated on the outside of the vehicle may simultaneously provide entryto the user and identify which user is entering the vehicle. Similarly,users may identify themselves using a key to the vehicle that is uniquefor different users. In some embodiments, users may say their name to amicrophone inside driving apparatus 100 to identify themselves.

As shown, driving apparatus 100 may comprise information panel 102. Insome embodiments, information panel 102 may be an electronic displaythat spans the dashboard of driving apparatus 100. Types of electronicdisplay technologies that may embody information panel 102 include CRT,LED, OLED, LCD, and plasma technologies, among others. In someembodiments, driving apparatus 100 may comprise multiple informationpanels 102 positioned at different locations within vehicle cabin 101.For example, information panels 102 may be positioned on the backs ofseats, on the center console, on the steering wheel, on the ceiling ofcabin 101, on the front windshield, on the side windshields, or at anyother location within driving apparatus 100.

As shown, driving apparatus 100 can comprise customizable components106. Some customizable components 106 in the driving apparatus 100 mayhave one or more settings that can define corresponding modes ofoperations for those customizable components 106. Examples of thosecustomizable components 106 may include driving mode of an engine ofdriving apparatus 100 (e.g., sports or economy mode), automaticheadlight mode (e.g., daytime running mode, tunnel light mode), lightintensity on dashboard display(s), airbag mode, cruise control, cameramode and/or another components that can be customized to operate in aparticular mode for a given user of the driving apparatus 100.

Some customizable components 106 in the driving apparatus 100 may haveone or more settings that can define a position and/or an operationalangle of those components. Examples of such customizable components 106may include one or more seats (front and/or rear), one or more seatbelts, one or more mirrors, a steering wheel, one or more windows andaccessories thereto, and/or any other customizable components whoseposition(s) or angle(s) can be adjusted.

Some customizable components 106 in the driving apparatus 100 may haveone or more settings that can define a starting point of thecustomizable components. Examples of such components may includemirrors, seats, radio (e.g., start station, start volume, etc.),headlights, brakes, engine (e.g., economy or sports mode), a navigationsystem (e.g., language, voice guide volume, voice guide accent), climatecontrol (e.g., start temperature, wind strength, wind direction,humidity, and so on), and/or any other customizable components 106 thathas a configurable initial state of operation. Other examples ofcustomizable components 106 are contemplated.

As still shown, driving apparatus 100 can facilitate multiple users 108to personalize their settings of information panel 102. The users mayinclude one or more drivers of the driving apparatus 100 and/or one ormore passengers of the driving apparatus 100. As mentioned above,separate biometric information capturing devices 105 can be provided todifferent types of users of driving apparatus 100. For example, withoutlimitation, the biometric information capturing device 105 can beprovided to the driver(s) of the driving apparatus 100 for storing,recalling, and/or updating the personalized settings of customizablecomponents 106 associated with the driver(s); and the biometricinformation capturing device 105 can be provided to the passenger(s) ofthe driving apparatus 100 for storing, recalling, and/or updatingpersonalized settings of the customizable components 106 associated withthe passenger(s).

It should be understood that driving apparatus 100 in accordance withthis disclosure is not necessarily limited to an automobile. Other typesof driving apparatus 100 are contemplated. For example, the drivingapparatus 100 can be a train, a bus, a vessel, a motorcycle, anelectronic bike, a rocket ship, an airplane, and/or any other types ofapparatus that can move in distance.

FIG. 2 illustrates an information panel 200, according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure. Information panel 200 as shown inFIG. 2 is positioned on the dashboard of a vehicle above steering wheel205. In other embodiments, information panel 200 may be positioned atother locations within a vehicle.

In some embodiments, a user is able to design a personalized informationpanel by selecting one or more display items 220 from a display itempalette 215 and placing them onto a designable area, or blank space.There are various methods through which a user of a vehicle may interactwith information panel 200. For example, in some embodiments a user maycreate his/her personalized settings for the information panel on apersonal computer or a smart phone while being remote from the vehicle.In some embodiments, a user may create personalized settings using atouch screen that is incorporated into the information panel.

In some embodiments, different display item palettes may containdifferent types of display items 220. For example, a first display itempalette may contain only display items relating to controllers and asecond display item palette may contain only display items relating togauges. Furthermore, some display item palettes may relate toentertainment display items, e.g., radio, news, sports scores, mediaplayer, etc. As discussed above, new display items and display itempalettes may be downloaded from the internet to a computing device, ordirectly to information panel 200. In some embodiments, display itempalette 215 may contain multiple display items 220 for the same kind ofcontroller or gauge. For example, display items 220 d, 220 g, and 220 hare different representations of a speedometer. In some embodiments, ifa user is not satisfied with these options of speedometers, he/she may,using a computing device or a touch screen incorporated into informationpanel 200, select an option for showing or downloading more displayitems of that type.

FIG. 3 illustrates a computing interface 300, according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, computinginterface 300 may comprise a personal computer 305 through which a usermay design and organize one or more personalized information panelconfigurations using an editing application. The editing application maygive a user the ability to fully modify the visual appearance andunderlying functionality of an information panel configuration. Theediting application may provide a wide range of editing tools 320, whichmay include, text tools, fonts, effects, fuel indicators, speedometers,navigation displays, gauges, controllers (including temperature, seatposition, mirrors, windows, sun roof, cruise control), drawing tools,brush sizes, colors, images, among others. Some of editing tools 320,such as gauges and controllers, correspond to display items that haveunderlying functionality that are linked to certain metrics regardingvehicle operation or performance.

Some of editing tools 320, such as controllers, correspond to displayitems that have underlying functionality that are linked to user input.For example, a temperature controller may be selected through theediting tools 320 by selecting the “CONTROLLERS” folder followed byselecting the “TEMPERATURE” subfolder. A temperature controller may beplaced onto information panel 310 through a drag and drop operation orthrough other means. Once the information panel configuration is savedby the user and loaded onto an information panel inside a vehicle, theuser may adjust the temperature of the vehicle by placing his/her fingeronto a touch screen incorporated into the information panel and movinghis/her finger accordingly.

Although operation of controllers through a touch screen incorporatedinto the information panel may be the primary mode of user input, theremay be situations where incorporating a touch screen into theinformation panel is not feasible, and other means of user input may beavailable. For example, the user identifying device 104 may beconfigured to allow users to interact with controllers. For example, akeypad, as discussed in relation to FIG. 1, may be configured to selecta desired air temperature in the vehicle, or to select a cruise controlsetting. Furthermore, controllers may be modified by voice activationwhere the user identifying device 104 is a microphone, or when asecondary microphone is located in the vehicle.

Some of editing tools 320 may not deal with display items withunderlying functionality, but may deal with modifying information panel310 from a purely aesthetic perspective. In some embodiments, users maymodify information panel 310 on a pixel-based editing approach, whereinformation panel 310 is treated as a raster graphics image with arectangular grid of pixels. Users may select various editing tools 320to modify pixels of information panel 310, such as brushes, linedrawers, shape drawers, fill tools, text tools, image effects, etc. Insome embodiments, users may modify information panel 310 on avector-based editing approach, where mathematical expressions are usedto represent different modifications to an image. In vector graphics,geometric primitives, such as points, lines, and shapes, are representedby a series of vectors with through locations called nodes. Images thatare modified using a vector-based editing approach have the advantage ofbeing more efficiently resized without loss of image clarity.Furthermore, later editing of vector graphics is more feasible thanraster images, as mathematical representations of each edit to a vectorgraphic may be saved.

Additional editing tools may exist in addition to editing tools 320 thatare listed in FIG. 3. Users may apply a wide range of filters andcustomizations to information panel 310, and may use the editing toolsin a way that causes the editing tools that deal with underlyingfunctionality to interact with the editing tools that primarily affectthe aesthetic nature of the image. For example, users may place a gaugeor controller onto information panel 310 with a default physical layout,and then edit the default layout by adding additional features andembellishments. Alternatively, users may create a gauge or controllerfrom scratch by adding a group of geometric primitives and thenselecting button 330 to add functionality. Adding functionality to agroup of geometric primitives may include linking certain metricsregarding vehicle operation or performance to some spatialcharacteristic of the group of geometric primitives. For example, theadded functionality may be linking the percentage of fuel left in thevehicle's fuel tank to the length and position of a rectangle. If X is avariable representing the percentage of fuel left in the fuel tank, L isthe length of the rectangle, and P is the horizontal position of therectangle from the left edge of information panel 310, then L and P maybe expressed by the formulas: L=5000X and P=2000, where L and P are inunits of pixels.

In some embodiments, computing interface 300 may also facilitate a userto add functionality to information panel 310 based on externalvariables that are unrelated to vehicle operation or performance. Forexample, a user may create an image of a sun, or import an image of asun via button 340, and link the horizontal position of the image to thecurrent time of day. Users may also create multiple information panelconfigurations and program each configuration for different drivingconditions. A first information panel configuration might be activatedfor a certain user during night time driving conditions, while a secondinformation panel configuration might be activated during the day. Byway of another example, a certain user may want to create sevendifferent information panel configurations and activate each ondifferent days of the week. Functionality may be added to differentinformation panel configurations based on other factors as well,including location, outside temperature, number of people in thevehicle, time of day, month of the year, whether the vehicle is parkedor moving, etc.

Information panel 310 of FIG. 3 shows an example of a possibleinformation panel configuration that may be created using computinginterface 300. Information panel 310 displays a customized graphic withtwo gauges (speedometer and fuel indicator), one controller (airtemperature), and several embellishments of the gauges and white spaceof information panel 310. A visual inspection of information panel 310may not necessary reveal how several of the aesthetic features may infact be functional elements that are linked to certain metrics regardingvehicle operation or performance. For example, the embellishmentssurrounding the speedometer of information panel 310 may be linked tovehicle speed, and may expand or contract as a function of vehiclespeed. By way of another example, the color of the fuel indicator may belinked to the percentage of fuel left in the vehicle's fuel tank. Thecolor may initially be a soft blue when the percentage is at 100%, butmay progress toward a bright red as the percentage approaches 0%.

FIG. 4 illustrates a computing interface 400, according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure. Information panel 410 shows anexample of a possible information panel configuration that may becreated using computing interface 400. Information panel 410 displays acustomized graphic with four gauges (speedometer, tachometer,temperature, and fuel indicator) and other embellishments. Computinginterface 400 demonstrates the pixel-based editing approach where a useris able to select “BRUSH SIZES” from the editing tools 320 and is ableto directly modify pixels of the customized graphic of information panel410 based on the brush size that is selected.

FIG. 5 illustrates a computing interface 500, according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure. Information panel 510 shows anexample of a possible information panel configuration that may becreated using computing interface 500. Information panel 510 displays acustomized graphic with six gauges (speedometer, tachometer,temperature, battery, fuel indicator, and odometer) and otherembellishments. Computing interface 500 demonstrates how a user mayimport an image via button 340 to customize information panel 510. Inaddition to images, users may import display items with underlyingfunctionality, such as gauges and controllers.

FIG. 6 illustrates a vehicle information panel 600 with partitioningbetween the driver side and the passenger side, according to anexemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, itmay be advantageous to partition information panel 600 into a driverside information panel 610 and a passenger side information panel 620 inorder to facilitate access to information panel 600 by users of thevehicle other than the driver. In this example, a driver may configure acustomized graphic corresponding to the left portion of informationpanel 600 and a passenger may configure a customized graphiccorresponding to a right portion of information panel 600.

As an example of an embodiment of FIG. 6, a first user of a vehicle mayhave four different information panel configurations that may beactivated when he/she is identified as being in the vehicle. A firstconfiguration may be activated when it is determined that the first useris in the driver's seat of the vehicle and there is no passenger in thevehicle. The first configuration may contain a customized graphic forall of information panel 600. A second configuration may be activatedwhen it is determined that the first user is in the driver's seat of thevehicle and there is a passenger in the vehicle. The secondconfiguration may contain a customized graphic corresponding to a leftportion of information panel 600, e.g., driver side information panel610. A third configuration may be activated when it is determined thatthe first user is sitting on the passenger side of the vehicle and thereis also someone in the driver's seat. The third information panelconfiguration may contain a customized graphic corresponding to a rightportion of information panel 600, e.g., passenger side information panel620. Finally, a fourth configuration may be activated when it isdetermined that the first user is sitting on the passenger side of thevehicle and there is no driver in the vehicle (for example, when thedriver goes into a store and the passenger remains in the vehicle). Thefourth information panel configuration may contain a customized graphicfor all of information panel 600. For example, the fourth configurationmay enable a passenger who was previously watching a movie only on thepassenger side information panel 620 to expand the movie to the entireinformation panel 600 when the driver is not in the vehicle.

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of a method 700 for facilitating auser to configure an information panel in a driving apparatus, accordingto an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. Method 700 will bedescribed in reference to FIGS. 1-6. The operations of method 700presented below are intended to be illustrative. In some embodiments,method 700 may be accomplished with one or more additional operationsnot described and/or without one or more of the operations discussed.Additionally, the order in which the operations of method 700 areillustrated in FIG. 7 and described below is not intended to belimiting.

At block 705, a user of a driving apparatus creates a new informationpanel configuration or modifies an existing one. The user may interactwith the information panel to create or modify an information panelconfiguration through various methods, including but not limited to, atouch screen incorporated into the information panel, a personalcomputer, a smart phone, and other remote or in-vehicle computingdevices. A user may add color, shape, or text modifications to acustomized graphic, as described in reference to FIG. 3. Themodifications may be dependent on different metrics regarding vehicleoperation or performance

At block 710, the information panel configuration is stored eitherlocally within the driving apparatus or on a remote server. In someembodiments, information panel configurations associated with differentusers are transmitted to a remote server by initiating requests totransmit by processor 103 followed by actual transmission of theinformation panel configurations, as described in reference to FIG. 1. Asingle user may have multiple information panel configurations withwhich he/she is associated with, as described in reference to FIG. 6. Atblock 715, the user of the driving apparatus is identified. Useridentification is performed by a user identifying device, as describedin reference to FIG. 1. However, the user identifying device need not bea biometric information capturing device. A user may identify himself byentering his information into the information panel or some other inputdevice (e.g., keypad), or the user may provide his biometric informationto a input device for further processing by the processor.

At block 720, the information panel configuration that was created ormodified by the user is retrieved. In some embodiments, informationpanel configurations associated with different users stored on a remoteserver may be retrieved by initiating requests to the server byprocessor 103, as described in reference to FIG. 1. Information panelconfigurations stored locally may be retrieved by searching a memorycomponent that is operatively coupled with processor 103. At block 725,the information panel configuration is effectuated on a display devicewithin the driving apparatus. The display device may be an electronicdisplay that spans the dashboard of the driving apparatus. The displaydevice may also be positioned on the backs of seats, on the centerconsole, on the steering wheel, on the ceiling, or at any other locationwithin the driving apparatus, as described in reference to FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 illustrates a simplified computer system, according to anexemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. A computer system 800 asillustrated in FIG. 8 may be incorporated into devices such as aportable electronic device, mobile phone, or other device as describedherein. FIG. 8 provides a schematic illustration of one embodiment of acomputer system 800 that can perform some or all of the steps of themethods provided by various embodiments. It should be noted that FIG. 8is meant only to provide a generalized illustration of variouscomponents, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate. FIG. 8,therefore, broadly illustrates how individual system elements may beimplemented in a relatively separated or relatively more integratedmanner.

The computer system 800 is shown comprising hardware elements that canbe electrically coupled via a bus 805, or may otherwise be incommunication, as appropriate. The hardware elements may include one ormore processors 810, including without limitation one or moregeneral-purpose processors and/or one or more special-purpose processorssuch as digital signal processing chips, graphics accelerationprocessors, and/or the like; one or more input devices 815, which caninclude without limitation a mouse, a keyboard, a camera, and/or thelike; and one or more output devices 820, which can include withoutlimitation a display device, a printer, and/or the like.

The computer system 800 may further include and/or be in communicationwith one or more non-transitory storage devices 825, which can comprise,without limitation, local and/or network accessible storage, and/or caninclude, without limitation, a disk drive, a drive array, an opticalstorage device, a solid-state storage device, such as a random accessmemory (“RAM”), and/or a read-only memory (“ROM”), which can beprogrammable, flash-updateable, and/or the like. Such storage devicesmay be configured to implement any appropriate data stores, includingwithout limitation, various file systems, database structures, and/orthe like.

The computer system 800 might also include a communications subsystem830, which can include without limitation a modem, a network card(wireless or wired), an infrared communication device, a wirelesscommunication device, and/or a chipset such as a Bluetooth™ device, an802.11 device, a WiFi device, a WiMax device, cellular communicationfacilities, etc., and/or the like. The communications subsystem 830 mayinclude one or more input and/or output communication interfaces topermit data to be exchanged with a network such as the network describedbelow to name one example, other computer systems, television, and/orany other devices described herein. Depending on the desiredfunctionality and/or other implementation concerns, a portableelectronic device or similar device may communicate image and/or otherinformation via the communications subsystem 830. In other embodiments,a portable electronic device, e.g. the first electronic device, may beincorporated into the computer system 800, e.g., an electronic device asan input device 815. In some embodiments, the computer system 800 willfurther comprise a working memory 835, which can include a RAM or ROMdevice, as described above.

The computer system 800 also can include software elements, shown asbeing currently located within the working memory 835, including anoperating system 840, device drivers, executable libraries, and/or othercode, such as one or more application programs 845, which may comprisecomputer programs provided by various embodiments, and/or may bedesigned to implement methods, and/or configure systems, provided byother embodiments, as described herein. Merely by way of example, one ormore procedures described with respect to the methods discussed above,such as those described in relation to FIG. 8, might be implemented ascode and/or instructions executable by a computer and/or a processorwithin a computer; in an aspect, then, such code and/or instructions canbe used to configure and/or adapt a general purpose computer or otherdevice to perform one or more operations in accordance with thedescribed methods.

A set of these instructions and/or code may be stored on anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium, such as the storagedevice(s) 825 described above. In some cases, the storage medium mightbe incorporated within a computer system, such as computer system 800.In other embodiments, the storage medium might be separate from acomputer system e.g., a removable medium, such as a compact disc, and/orprovided in an installation package, such that the storage medium can beused to program, configure, and/or adapt a general purpose computer withthe instructions/code stored thereon. These instructions might take theform of executable code, which is executable by the computer system 800and/or might take the form of source and/or installable code, which,upon compilation and/or installation on the computer system 800 e.g.,using any of a variety of generally available compilers, installationprograms, compression/decompression utilities, etc., then takes the formof executable code.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that substantialvariations may be made in accordance with specific requirements. Forexample, customized hardware might also be used, and/or particularelements might be implemented in hardware, software including portablesoftware, such as applets, etc., or both. Further, connection to othercomputing devices such as network input/output devices may be employed.

As mentioned above, in one aspect, some embodiments may employ acomputer system such as the computer system 800 to perform methods inaccordance with various embodiments of the technology. According to aset of embodiments, some or all of the procedures of such methods areperformed by the computer system 800 in response to processor 810executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions, which mightbe incorporated into the operating system 840 and/or other code, such asan application program 845, contained in the working memory 835. Suchinstructions may be read into the working memory 835 from anothercomputer-readable medium, such as one or more of the storage device(s)825. Merely by way of example, execution of the sequences ofinstructions contained in the working memory 835 might cause theprocessor(s) 810 to perform one or more procedures of the methodsdescribed herein. Additionally or alternatively, portions of the methodsdescribed herein may be executed through specialized hardware.

The terms “machine-readable medium” and “computer-readable medium,” asused herein, refer to any medium that participates in providing datathat causes a machine to operate in a specific fashion. In an embodimentimplemented using the computer system 800, various computer-readablemedia might be involved in providing instructions/code to processor(s)810 for execution and/or might be used to store and/or carry suchinstructions/code. In many implementations, a computer-readable mediumis a physical and/or tangible storage medium. Such a medium may take theform of a non-volatile media or volatile media. Non-volatile mediainclude, for example, optical and/or magnetic disks, such as the storagedevice(s) 825. Volatile media include, without limitation, dynamicmemory, such as the working memory 835.

Common forms of physical and/or tangible computer-readable mediainclude, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk,magnetic tape, or any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, any other opticalmedium, punchcards, papertape, any other physical medium with patternsof holes, a RAM, a PROM, EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip orcartridge, or any other medium from which a computer can readinstructions and/or code.

Various forms of computer-readable media may be involved in carrying oneor more sequences of one or more instructions to the processor(s) 810for execution. Merely by way of example, the instructions may initiallybe carried on a magnetic disk and/or optical disc of a remote computer.A remote computer might load the instructions into its dynamic memoryand send the instructions as signals over a transmission medium to bereceived and/or executed by the computer system 800.

The communications subsystem 830 and/or components thereof generallywill receive signals, and the bus 805 then might carry the signalsand/or the data, instructions, etc. carried by the signals to theworking memory 835, from which the processor(s) 810 retrieves andexecutes the instructions. The instructions received by the workingmemory 835 may optionally be stored on a non-transitory storage device825 either before or after execution by the processor(s) 810.

The methods, systems, and devices discussed above are examples. Variousconfigurations may omit, substitute, or add various procedures orcomponents as appropriate. For instance, in alternative configurations,the methods may be performed in an order different from that described,and/or various stages may be added, omitted, and/or combined. Also,features described with respect to certain configurations may becombined in various other configurations. Different aspects and elementsof the configurations may be combined in a similar manner. Also,technology evolves and, thus, many of the elements are examples and donot limit the scope of the disclosure or claims.

Specific details are given in the description to provide a thoroughunderstanding of exemplary configurations including implementations.However, configurations may be practiced without these specific details.For example, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, andtechniques have been shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoidobscuring the configurations. This description provides exampleconfigurations only, and does not limit the scope, applicability, orconfigurations of the claims. Rather, the preceding description of theconfigurations will provide those skilled in the art with an enablingdescription for implementing described techniques. Various changes maybe made in the function and arrangement of elements without departingfrom the spirit or scope of the disclosure.

Also, configurations may be described as a process which is depicted asa flow diagram or block diagram. Although each may describe theoperations as a sequential process, many of the operations can beperformed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of theoperations may be rearranged. A process may have additional steps notincluded in the figure. Furthermore, examples of the methods may beimplemented by hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode,hardware description languages, or any combination thereof. Whenimplemented in software, firmware, middleware, or microcode, the programcode or code segments to perform the necessary tasks may be stored in anon-transitory computer-readable medium such as a storage medium.Processors may perform the described tasks.

Having described several example configurations, various modifications,alternative constructions, and equivalents may be used without departingfrom the spirit of the disclosure. For example, the above elements maybe components of a larger system, wherein other rules may takeprecedence over or otherwise modify the application of the technology.Also, a number of steps may be undertaken before, during, or after theabove elements are considered. Accordingly, the above description doesnot bind the scope of the claims.

As used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an”,and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictatesotherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a user” includes a pluralityof such users, and reference to “the processor” includes reference toone or more processors and equivalents thereof known to those skilled inthe art, and so forth.

Also, the words “comprise”, “comprising”, “contains”, “containing”,“include”, “including”, and “includes”, when used in this specificationand in the following claims, are intended to specify the presence ofstated features, integers, components, or steps, but they do notpreclude the presence or addition of one or more other features,integers, components, steps, acts, or groups.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system configured to facilitate a user toconfigure and retrieve personalized settings for a fully designableinformation panel in a driving apparatus, the system comprising aprocessor configured to perform: storing, by the processor, a pluralityof information panel configurations for users of the driving apparatus,the plurality of information panel configurations including a firstinformation panel configuration for a first user of the drivingapparatus and a second information panel configuration for a a firstuser of the driving apparatus, and wherein: the first information panelconfiguration includes graphic customized by the first user; and thesecond information panel configuration includes graphic customized bythe first user; and the graphics in the first and second informationpanels were previously modified with a plurality of color, shape, ortext modifications, wherein at least one of the plurality of color,shape, or text modifications is visually dependent on a metric regardingvehicle operation or performance, and wherein the metric is dynamicallydisplayed in the first information panel; determining whether the firstuser is present in the driving apparatus and whether the first user ison a driver side of the driving apparatus; in response to determiningthe first user is on the driver side of the driving apparatus,displaying a first information panel at the driver side of the drivingapparatus and facilitating by the processor, the first user to configurethe first information panel on the display device by modifying the firstinformation panel configuration; determining whether the first user ispresent in the driving apparatus and whether the first user is on apassenger side of the driving apparatus; and in response to determiningthe first user is on the passenger side of the driving apparatus,displaying a second information panel at the passenger side of thedriving apparatus and facilitating, by the processor, the first user toconfigure the second information panel on the display device bymodifying the second information panel configuration.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the plurality of color, shape, or text modificationsinclude a modification of either a vehicle gauge or controller.
 3. Thesystem of claim 2, wherein the graphics in the first and secondinformation panels were previously modified using either a pixel-basedediting approach or a vector-based editing approach.
 4. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the processor is configured to perform: in response todetermining the first user is on the driver side of the drivingapparatus, retrieving the first information panel configuration; inresponse to determining the first user is on the passenger side of thedriving apparatus, retrieving the second information panelconfiguration.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein determining whether thefirst user is present in the driving apparatus and whether the firstuser is on the driver side of the driving apparatus receiving biometricinformation regarding the first user.
 6. The system of claim 1, whereindetermining whether the first user is present in the driving apparatusand whether the first user is on the passenger side of the drivingapparatus includes receiving information from an input device configuredto allow the first user to indicate the first user is on the passengerside of the driving apparatus to identify themselves.
 7. The system ofclaim 6, wherein the input device is a touch screen incorporated intothe display device.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein storing theplurality of information panel configurations for users of the drivingapparatus includes storing the plurality of information panelconfigurations in a remote storage over a network.
 9. A computer-methodfor configuring a driving apparatus, the method comprising: storing, bya processor, a plurality of information panel configurations for usersof the driving apparatus, the plurality of information panelconfigurations including a first information panel configuration for afirst user of the driving apparatus and a second information panelconfiguration for a first user of the driving apparatus, and wherein:the first information panel configuration includes graphic customized bythe first user; and the second information panel configuration includesgraphic customized by the first user; and the graphics in the first andsecond information panels were previously modified with a plurality ofcolor, shape, or text modifications, wherein at least one of theplurality of color, shape, or text modifications is visually dependenton a metric regarding vehicle operation or performance, and wherein themetric is dynamically displayed in the first information panel;determining whether the first user is present in the driving apparatusand whether the first user is on a driver side of the driving apparatus;in response to determining the first user is on the driver side of thedriving apparatus, displaying a first information panel at the driverside of the driving apparatus and facilitating, by the processor, thefirst user to configure the first information panel on the displaydevice by modifying the first information panel configuration;determining whether the first user is present in the driving apparatusand whether the first user is on a passenger side of the drivingapparatus; and in response to determining the first user is on thepassenger side of the driving apparatus, displaying a second informationpanel at the passenger side of the driving apparatus and facilitating,by the processor, the first user to configure the second informationpanel on the display device by modifying the second information panelconfiguration.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the plurality ofcolor, shape, or text modifications include a modification of either avehicle gauge or controller.
 11. The method of claim 10, whereingraphics in the first and second information panels were previouslymodified using either a pixel-based editing approach or a vector-basedediting approach.
 12. The method of claim 9, further comprising: inresponse to determining the first user is on the driver side of thedriving apparatus, retrieving the first information panel configuration;in response to determining the first user is on the passenger side ofthe driving apparatus, retrieving the second information panelconfiguration.
 13. The method of claim 9, wherein determining whetherthe first user is present in the driving apparatus and whether the firstuser is on the driver side of the driving apparatus receiving biometricinformation regarding the first user.
 14. The method of claim 9, whereinstoring the plurality of information panel configurations for users ofthe driving apparatus includes storing the plurality of informationpanel configurations in a remote storage over a network.
 15. Anon-transitory processor-readable medium comprising instructions that,when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or moreprocessors to perform: storing, by the processor, a plurality ofinformation panel configurations for users of the driving apparatus, theplurality of information panel configurations including a firstinformation panel configuration for a first user of the drivingapparatus and a second information panel configuration for a first userof the driving apparatus, and wherein: the first information panelconfiguration includes graphic customized by the first user; and thesecond information panel configuration includes graphic customized bythe first user; and the graphics in the first and second informationpanels were previously modified with a plurality of color, shape, ortext modifications, wherein at least one of the plurality of color,shape, or text modifications is visually dependent on a metric regardingvehicle operation or performance, and wherein the metric is dynamicallydisplayed in the first information panel; determining whether the firstuser is present in the driving apparatus and whether the first user ison a driver side of the driving apparatus; in response to determiningthe first user is on the driver side of the driving apparatus,displaying a first information panel at the driver side of the drivingapparatus and facilitating, by the processor, the first user toconfigure the first information panel on the display device by modifyingthe first information panel configuration; determining whether the firstuser is present in the driving apparatus and whether the first user ison a passenger side of the driving apparatus; and in response todetermining the first user is on the passenger side of the drivingapparatus, displaying a second information panel at the passenger sideof the driving apparatus and facilitating, by the processor, the firstuser to configure the second information panel on the display device bymodifying the second information panel configuration.
 16. Thenon-transitory processor-readable medium of 15, wherein the plurality ofcolor, shape, or text modifications include a modification of either avehicle gauge or controller.
 17. The non-transitory processor-readablemedium of 15, wherein the instructions that, when executed by one ormore processors, cause the one or more processors to perform: inresponse to determining the first user is on the driver side of thedriving apparatus, retrieving the first information panel configuration;in response to determining the first user is on the passenger side ofthe driving apparatus, retrieving the second information panelconfiguration.
 18. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of 15,wherein storing the plurality of information panel configurations forusers of the driving apparatus includes storing the plurality ofinformation panel configurations in a remote storage over a network.